Should I Have Gotten A Female For My Male Australian Shepherd? Or Are Two Males Okay?

(Florida)

I have a 2 year old male, and I went and got another male, pup. Now the little guy is about 4 months old, but they seem to fight more than play. I'm wondering if I made a mistake getting another male, if perhaps I should have gotten a female. I realize its too late now, but does anyone have any advice as to how I can help them get along better?

The 2 year old is very dominant, and the pup, well, he's not dominant, but he gives it right back, which is not bad in itself, but sometimes it gets a little hairy. I'm disappointed, I wanted them to be like bothers, or friends at least. I've had the pup for 2 months now.

Comments for Should I Have Gotten A Female For My Male Australian Shepherd? Or Are Two Males Okay?

It is always best to have a male and female that way there is no competition between the two. Two males will typically get along better than two females though. You also didn't state whether or not your older male was neutered. This will help greatly with aggression and dominance issues, along with neutering your puppy when he is old enough.

yesby: Anonymous

yes, my two year old is neutered, has been since he was about 6 months old. He is still very dominant. I found him humping the puppy's head, I thought that was wierd, and then I looked it up, and what they say is that is dominance thing: and trying to over power, and be the head/lead. wow, no kidding, but at least now its not unusual, or uncommon. Just not sure how to get him to calm down with this issue.

give it some timeby: Maureen

We have two males..one is 2 yrs old and the other is 10 months. We have had them both neutered... I think they will sort themselves out...our older one really beat on the little guy for a while...I actually got worried for his safety .but now that they are pretty much the same size they just play all day long. Sometimes granted it seems like fighting as they are pretty rough..but no yelping means they must be having fun. If the older one goes out now with me or my husband, the younger one walks around the house crying. So give it some time..I think it should be fine.

Having 2 male Aussie'sby: Anonymous

I had got 2 males from the same litter at 6 weeks old and Had both until they were 8 years old. Both were sweet well mannered dogs & they truly loved each other even though Jake was more dominate very social and not in the least bit shy would pick on Kobie who has always been shy, doesn't get excited about much. However Jake disappeared a fewmonths ago and now i just have Kobie left. I didn't realize how much Kobie depended on Jake's dominance until Jake disappeared. Kobie is much more shy now & hates for me to leave him when i go to work. I think Kobie got his confidence from Jake because he was more dominate. If Jake wasn't scared then Kobie wouldn't be scared. If Kobie was scared of something like heights he wouldn't go near it until he saw Jake get up on something high & having fun then he would finally get up there to scared but eventually he would see that Jake was ok so then he knew he was ok. from what i learned from them the dominate dog may pick on or be plain mean at times but a shy or young dog will learn to rely on that dogs dominance to help them not be afraid. It was easy training both of my dogs to work cattle because Jake was not afraid and easy to train and when Kobie saw Jake learn to work and having fun then he followed his lead. they soon became a team when they worked cattle jake was full force & kept the cows pushed forward & going & Kobie gently kept the heard together. There different personalities complimented each other and they depended on each other to work and much more. I took Kobie out to work cattle a few weeks after Jake disappeared & he was lost because Jake wasn't there to help him. I think that your dogs both being males is ok they are just still working Out who they are and will learn to compliment each others personality in order to be there own team.